We at CLDF love catching up with our families at the Transplant Games. It’s a wonderful opportunity to see how our young people are progressing. And we’re particularly pleased this summer to know that eight year old Hannah, who has undergone four liver transplants, will be taking part.
Hannah was born with biliary atresia. And even though she underwent a Kasai procedure when she was just three weeks old, it was clear by the time she was six months old that this had been unsuccessful, and she would need a liver transplant.
“As Hannah was deteriorating rapidly, we opted for living related liver donation,” explains her mum, Amanda. “I was confirmed as a suitable match and surgery went ahead. It was without doubt the most terrifying and overwhelming thing that my family and I have ever been through, and it ended in heartbreak and devastation with the news that the surgery had been unsuccessful, and Hannah would need another transplant.”
Sadly, her second transplant also failed, and it was only when she was fortunate enough to receive a third transplant at the age of three that Hannah began to thrive, started to do the same things as other children her age, and was able to start school alongside her peers.
Unfortunately, her good health did not last and less than a year after she started school, Hannah’s consultants told her parents that this liver was also failing.
“After everything she had been through, this was very hard to take,” says Amanda. “Hannah went back on the transplant list. She was incredibly brave throughout and we tried to keep life as normal as possible for Hannah and her sister, Mia, but it was very tough living with this constant worry.”
After 16 months of waiting, in December 2022, Hannah received her new liver from an altruistic donor who wishes to remain anonymous.
“It was an incredible thing to do, and we are beyond grateful to our donor,” says Amanda. “Hannah spent a month in hospital but thankfully was let home on day leave for Christmas. Her initial recovery was slow, and she had complications for several months due to fluid on the graft which kept getting infected. She has now been well with no liver related admission for 15 months!
“Our appointments at Leeds are now down to every two months and it’s brilliant to see Hannah settled in back at school after missing so much of it over the previous two years. In fact, she has just completed Year 3 with an attendance of 90%!
“It does feel like a huge weight has finally been lifted but in the back of my mind there is always a little worry that it won’t last. We are just trying to take each day as it comes and arrange lots of family trips.
“So we’re very much looking forward to the Transplant Games in August where Hannah will be taking part in ball throwing and cup-stacking. She loved it so much last year and it was great for Mia to make some friends who also know what she’s been through.
“And we’re also off to Florida this summer. This is the first time in her life that Hannah has been well enough to travel abroad so it’s exciting for all of us!”
